Miami University first fielded a football team in 1888 with the mascot of the Redskins.[1] There was no head football coach in the team's first two seasons or from 1898–1899 nor was there a team fielded in 1890.[1] The team's first head coach was C. K. Fauver, who led MU in 1895 to a 3–0 record.[1]

Little's tenure was interrupted by his service in the armed forces during World War I. He served as a captain in the infantry from August 15, 1917, to August 7, 1918.[4]

He returned and led the Redskins a 7–1 record in 1919 and a 5–2–1 record in 1920.[5][6] He once again won the Ohio Athletic Conference championship in 1921 with a perfect 8–0 record.[7] The 1921 team scored 238 points during the season and gave up only 13.[7] In his four years as Miami's head coach, Little compiled a record of 27–3–2 including 21 games where the opponent did not score a single point.[8] He left Miami to become Fielding H. Yost's top assistant at Michigan.[9]

Frank Wilton came to Miami from his post as an assistant coach at Stanford and installed Pop Warner's double wingback offensive system.[11][12] In his first two years, 1932 and 1933, he led the Redskins to Buckeye Intercollegiate Athletic Association championships.[12] In those two years he only lost three games, two to Big Ten Conference teams Indiana and Illinois.[13][14] The next two years his teams won only five games each year,[15][16] but returned to championship form in 1936 with a 7–2 record and a share of the conference title.[17] The Redskins slid to a 4–4–1 record in 1937,[18] but rebounded in 1938 with a 6–3 record.[19] The last three years of Wilton's tenure saw a drastic downturn in victories. The 1939, 1940, and 1941 seasons produced a total of three wins.[20][21][22] After the 1941 season he was replaced by Stu Holcomb. Shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Wilton resigned his duties at Miami, effective at the end of the school year, to join the United States Navy.[23] He left Miami with the most football wins in school history, a record he retained until Randy Walker surpassed him in 1997. Wilton's 44 wins remain third in Miami football history.[24]

Stu Holcomb was named MU's head football coach for the 1942 season, succeeding Wilton. His first team went 3–6 which equaled the number of wins of the three previous years for the Redskins.[25] The next year Holcomb and the Redskins posted a winning record of 8–2–1.[26] This team was dominated by defense, only allowing their opponents to score in double digits twice; A 34–12 win over Bradley University and a 35–0 blow out loss to Arkansas A&M.[26] In his two years as Miami’s head coach he compiled an overall record of 10–9–1.[27] He left Miami to become an assistant coach for Earl Blaik at Army.[28]

Under head coach Sid Gillman, the Redskins compiled a record of 31–6–1.[29]

Gillman is best known for helping develop the deep downfield pass that helped make football the game it is today.[30] Gillman's teams used that to great avail at Miami, as he led the Redskins to great success in his four seasons as head coach. Among Gillman's players at Miami was Paul Dietzel, who played center at Miami from 1946–1947 and would go on to win a national championship as head football coach at LSU. Gillman would go on to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach.[31]

MU hired Woody Hayes away from Denison as head football coach after Blackburn's departure.[33] In his first season at Miami, Hayes led the Redskins to a 5–4 record.[34]

In his second year with the Redskins, Hayes led the 1950 squad to a 9–1 record and an appearance in the Salad Bowl, where they defeated Arizona State.[35] Hayes had helped bring The Miami football program back to prominence after several years of mediocrity and absence from the spotlight. That success led him to accept the Ohio State head coaching position on February 18, 1951, where Hayes would cement himself as one of college football's greatest coaches.[36] Hayes' final record at Miami is 14–5.[37]

Ara Parseghian was chosen to take over as head coach of the Redskins after Hayes' departure.[38] Parseghian's teams at Miami consistently did well in the Mid-American Conference, posting a 7–3 record in 1951 and improving to 8–1 the following year.[39] The Redskins were conference champions in 1954 and in 1955, when they went undefeated.[40][41][42] Parseghian's success, which included two wins over larger Big Ten schools, raised his profile nationally as a head coaching prospect.[40][43] In late 1955, he departed Miami and was hired to become head football coach at Northwestern, one of the Big Ten schools Miami had beaten.[43] Parseghian compiled a 39–6–1 record in five seasons at Miami.[40] Parseghian would go on to cement a Hall of Fame career as head coach at Notre Dame after his tenure at Northwestern.

To replace Parseghian, Miami promoted John Pont from assistant coach to head coach.[44] Pont was an alumnus of Miami who had played running back for the Redskins from 1949–1951.[44] Under Pont's tutelage, the Redskins compiled a 43–22–2 record[45] and made an appearance in the 1962 Tangerine Bowl (now known as the Capital One Bowl), a game they lost to Houston.[46][47] Pont would leave his alma mater after seven seasons to accept the head football coach position at Yale.[48] Pont would go on to have success as head coach at Indiana, taking them to their only Rose Bowl appearance to date.[48]

Miami went to a familiar name to find its next head coach. Bo Schembechler, an assistant coach at Ohio State under former Miami head coach Woody Hayes, was hired as Redskins head coach.[49] Over the next six seasons, Schembechler led the Redskins to a 40–17–3 record,[50] winning a pair of Mid-American Conference titles and finishing second three times. The team's top season was 1966, as Miami went 9–1 overall.[51] Miami's offense was led during those seasons by future longtime NFL players, first Ernie Kellerman and then Bruce Matte.[52] Schembechler's overall record at Miami was 40–17–3.[53] Schembechler departed Miami after the 1968 season to accept the head football coach position at Michigan,[54] where he would also go on to establish himself as one of college football's legendary coaches and rival Hayes' Buckeyes.

The Redskins went with another of Woody Hayes' Buckeye assistants to fill its head coaching vacancy. Bill Mallory was chosen to lead the Miami football program after Schembechler's departure.[55] In Mallory's five seasons, the Redskins compiled a record of 39–12 with four straight 7–3 seasons and a perfect 11–0 in Mallory's fifth that finished ranked #17 and #15 in the final Coaches' and AP polls, respectively.[56][57] Mallory won MAC Coach of the Year honors in 1973.[56][58] Following the 1973 season, Mallory departed for the head coaching position at Colorado.[59]

Dick Crum was promoted from assistant coach to head coach of the Redskins in 1974.[60] He orchestrated several upset wins including victories over Kentucky in 1974,[61]Purdue in 1975,[62] and Indiana in 1977.[63] Crum had three winning seasons in four years and won the Mid-American Conference three times.[64] In his first two years, he led the Miami to the Tangerine Bowl twice, where they beat Georgia in 1974[65] and South Carolina in 1975.[66] Those two Miami teams ranked in the final AP Poll at #10 in 1974 and #12 in 1975.[67][68] In 1976, Miami's performance fell dramatically with a 3–8 finish.[69] The team rebounded the next year with a 10–1 record.[70] After the 1977 season, Crum accepted the head coaching position at North Carolina.[71] Crum finished his stint at Miami with a record of 34–10–1.[72]

Tom Reed served as the head coach at Miami in from 1978 to 1982.[73] His best seasons came in 1978 and 1981, when he led the Redskins to 8–2–1 records.[74][75] Reed's squads orchestrated several big upset wins including a victory over North Carolina, coached by former Redskins head coach Dick Crum, during the 1978 season[76] and a victory over Kentucky in Lexington in 1979.[77] Reed had four winning seasons in five years and tallied a career record of 34–19–2 at Miami.[78] Among Reed's players at Miami was future Super Bowl winning head coach John Harbaugh, who played defensive back. One of Reed's assistant coaches was Jim Tressel, who would go on to great success as head football coach at Ohio State. After the 1981 season, Reed accepted the head coaching position at NC State.[79]

Tim Rose was promoted from defensive coordinator and served as the head coach of the Redskins from 1983 to 1989.[80] He led the 1986 Miami squad to the Mid-American Conference championship and a berth in the California Bowl.[81] That season, Rose orchestrated perhaps the biggest win in the program's history with a 21–12 victory over #8 ranked LSU in Baton Rouge.[82] Even with his success in 1986, Rose only had two winning seasons in seven years at Miami and finished his tenure there with a record of 31–44–3[83] that included a streak of 20 games without a victory between 1987 and 1989.[84] After the 1989 season, Rose's contract was not renewed.[84] Rose was the first head coach since Edwin Sweetland in 1911 to leave Miami with a losing record.[84]

Randy Walker became Miami's 30th head coach after Rose was let go.[85] In his first year the RedHawks posted a 5–5–1 record,[86] a vast improvement for a team that had only won two games in the two previous years. Walker made steady improvement in his nine years, culminating with a 10–1 record in his last year with the RedHawks.[87] This team was led by record-breaking running backTravis Prentice.[88] Walker finished with 59–35–5 record[89] including several victories over ranked opponents from major conference such as #25 Northwestern in 1995,[90] #12 Virginia Tech in 1997[91] and #12 North Carolina in 1998.[92] However, his teams never won the Mid-American Conference Championship.[93] Walker's offensive coordinator from 1994–1995 was future Super Bowl-winning head coach Sean Payton. Walker left Miami after the 1998 season to accept the head football coach position at Northwestern.[94]

Miami changed its mascot from the Redskins to the RedHawks in 1996 in response to cries of the name being disrespectful to Native Americans.[95]

After spending 13 years as an assistant at Miami, Terry Hoeppner became the RedHawks 31st head coach in 1999.[96] He succeeded Randy Walker.[97] Hoeppner's first game at Miami was against Walker and the Wildcats, which resulted in a 28–3 Miami victory.[98] Despite the win, his first year was considered by some to be a disappointment. The RedHawks were coming off a 10–1 season, and returned several starters including record-breaking running back Travis Prentice, but were only able to post a 7–4 record.[99] The drop-off was attributed in part to Hoeppner's installation of an open passing attack, rather than the running game Walker had used in the past. The change ended up paying dividends later, as Miami earned a 48–25 overall record in six seasons under Hoeppner[100] and finished among the top three in the Mid-American Conference East in each of his six years at the helm. While at Miami, Hoeppner recruited and signed Ben Roethlisberger by promising to play him at quarterback, whereas other programs were recruiting Roethlisberger as a wide receiver or a tight end.[101] Roethlisberger went on to achieve great success in the NFL as quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Hoeppner's best season was 2003 when Miami, quarterbacked by Roethlisberger, went 13–1 and finished #10 in the final AP Poll.[102][103] Hoeppner would leave the RedHawks to accept the head football coach position at Indiana after the 2004 season.[104]

After spending four years as offensive coordinator at Miami, Shane Montgomery was promoted to head coach, becoming the RedHawks' 32nd in school history.[105] In his first year, the RedHawks posted a 7–4 record including a tie for first place in the MAC East division.[106]Akron won the tie breaker and represented the East in the MAC Championship Game.[107] However, Montgomery's RedHawks were never a consistent winner. On November 29, 2008, Montgomery resigned under pressure as head coach of the RedHawks, after four seasons and a 17–31 record.[108]

In December 2008, Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Haywood was named the 33rd head coach of the RedHawks.[109] Haywood was the first African American head football coach at Miami University and is the only in school history.[110] After going 1–11 in his first season,[111] Haywood led the Redhawks to an 9–4 record in his second season and a MAC title.[112] He was named the 2010 Mid-American Conference coach of the year.[113] Haywood left Miami after two seasons and a 10–15 record[114] to accept the head football coach position at Pittsburgh.[115] However, sixteen days later, on New Year's Eve, Haywood was arrested on domestic violence charges against the mother of his son in South Bend, IN and was fired by Pitt the next day before ever coaching a game, holding a practice, recruiting a player or even hiring an assistant coach.[116]

On December 31, 2010, the same day Haywood was arrested, Miami hired Michigan State offensive coordinator and Miami alumnus Don Treadwell as its 34th head coach.[117] Treadwell played wide receiver for Miami from 1978–1981 for head coach Tom Reed.[118] Under Treadwell, the RedHawks struggled, compiling back to back 4–8 yearly records in 2011 and 2012[119][120] before beginning the 2013 0–5,[121] leading to Treadwell's firing as head coach.[121] The rest of the 2013 season was led by interim head coach Mike Bath.[121] The RedHawks would fail to win a single game in 2013, finishing 0–12.[122]

On December 3, 2013, Notre Dame offensive coordinator Chuck Martin was announced as the 35th head football coach of the Miami RedHawks.[123] Under Martin, the RedHawks 21 game losing streak finally came to an end with a last minute victory over UMass.[124]

On July 24, 2013, the Miami Redhawks held a launch event for new adidas uniforms for the 2013 football season. Two Miami uniforms were released at the event and each design was paired with new chrome helmets. The white away uniform included red shoulders with the new "MIAMI" wordmark across the top.[125] The red design included white shoulders with the new "MIAMI" wordmark.[126]